Packaging

The small box has a nice photo of the unit's orange finish on its front side. The model description is given in big fonts, and the capacity description can be found in the bottom-left corner—highlighted against a black background. The top-right corner has the badges for the three-year warranty and the Bronze efficiency rating. Cougar's logo resides in the opposite corner.


This side has a brief features description in Spanish—one of the most popular languages nowadays.


The most interesting view on this side depicts the badges that describe the unit's efficiency of up to 87% (most likely with 230VAC and not with 115VAC where efficiency is 1-1.5% lower at normal loads), its ErP Lot 6 2013 compliance, the APFC circuit, the OVP circuit of 5VSB, and its quiet operation (well, we will see about that during testing).


The rear side of the box has a multilingual features description in English, French, and German. There are also two tables describing the power characteristics and available connectors of PowerX-550 and PowerX-700 units. Near the bottom-right corner is a graph according to which the fan only outputs 30 dBA of noise close to full load, yet Cougar doesn't reveal any information on the conditions under which these difficult-to-achieve low noise-output measurement took place.

Contents

The small box didn't allow for the usage of packing foam, which surely would provide much better protection than plain bubble wrap.


The bundle is poor—common for a mainstream PSU. It doesn't even include Velcro straps or zip ties for cable-management purposes. You will only get a user's manual, a set of fixing bolts, and the AC power cord for the PSU.

Exterior

The bronze finish looks nice and adds visually to the classic design of the casing the PowerX-550 uses. Its only downside is that it can be scratched easily, so you have to be extra careful during the installation process if you want to avoid damaging the finish. One of two sides has an embossed Cougar logo, while the opposite side holds the specifications label. The front uses a classic honeycomb-style exhaust vent and has the on/off switch that resides right next to the AC socket. The top's fan grill is actually integrated into the casing and the center badge, although small, looks nice. The cables at rear are all fully sleeved back into the housing, and there is a grommet around the cable exit hole. We should also note that the sleeving job is not of high quality, but rather average, which is completely understandable given the price tag of the PSU.